Reunite L4D2
by AmbidextrousSeal
Summary: Domestic AU: Nick moved to Savannah in 10th grade. Ellis was the only one who would talk to him, since he was from the north. When Ellis decided he was going to college, Nick moved away and the two have lost contact since. Things start to develop again when they meet up by coincidence one night when Ellis is dragged to a club in the next town over by a friend.
1. Chapter 1

"...How'd you talk me into this again?"

"Shut up, Ellis. I got a thing about going to these places by myself."

Ellis sighed as he stuck his face out the window, letting the wind ruffle his hair. "Then don't go, genius."

"Where's your sense of adventure tonight? Jesus, man, you're 21 years old. Live a little."

"I would've been perfectly content staying in the dorm but then you come along and start going on about how you want to go to the club in the next town over and basically guilt me into coming with you."

"Just because we're guys doesn't mean some creep won't try something."

"Keith, I literally taught you to fight tw-"

Keith cut his friend off as he pulled into a parking space. "We're here."

Ellis sighed. No getting out of it now. He really didn't mind going to clubs with Keith, except for the fact that they always reminded him of an old friend. Was always talking about how he'd gotten in with a fake ID and how it was so cool: the blaring music, the dancing people in the lowlight. He'd moved away just before Ellis decided he was going to go to college, and where he'd gone, he never said. Ellis hadn't heard from him since. hell, he didn't even know if he was still in Georgia. It was likely enough that he'd gone back up to the northern part of the country.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" Keith's voice snapped Ellis out of his trance and prompted him to follow to the door. Even from out here, Ellis could hear the music blaring. It was loud enough that subtle vibrations still ran through him. He figured out just now that his hearing was probably going to be absolute shit tomorrow, and sighed again.

Literally as soon as they were both in the door, Keith disappeared. So much for his excuse about needing a buddy in these places. Ellis supected it was a ploy to enfore Keith's idea that he needed a girlfriend, but he shrugged it off quickly and found a table to sit at to wait out the time it'd take for his friend to want to leave.

After a while he'd partially adapted to the noise and let his eyes drift shut, since the constant movement was a bit overwhelming right then. He hadn't been sleeping too well because of several tests he'd had to study for, and even this was more of a chance to sleep than he'd get most of the time. Ellis noticed someone pulling out one of the other chairs at the table, but just kinda assumed it was Keith. He didn't bother looking up.

He did, however, pay attention when he heard Keith speak up. He hadn't heard his friend walk up, and jumped as he snapped to attention. "Who's this?" He gestured at the other man sitting at the table, and Ellis hardly recognized him.

His hair was dark brown and slicked back, and he had a thin layer of stubble scattered over the lower half of his face. He had on a pure white suit and a blue button-up shirt underneat that. He had his fingers meshed together and chin rested on then, crystalline green eyes silently. fixed on Ellis. When Ellis looked at him, he grinned subtly.

"Look who doesn't remember me." His voice was deeper than last time Ellis had heard it, but it was unmistakable: this was Nick.

"NICK! OH MY GOD! YOU'VE BEEN HERE ALL ALONG?!"

"Yeah...? Why wouldn't I?"

"I though you'd have gone back north!"

"...Not an option. Long story. Short version, you're stuck with me down here." His grin got a little wider.

"You got a girlfriend?"

"God, Keith! You're obsessed."

Nick chuckled subtly. "No, not yet. Got my eye on someone, though." He glanced at Ellis like he used to when he thought that they were thinking something similar, but this time Ellis had no clue what his older friend was trying to communicate.

After a moment of silence, he reached over and grabbed Nick's hand with their thumbs locked. "Good to have you back, buddy."

Keith giggled and hissed, "Gaaaaay." Ellis sighed, standing up and taking his roommate by the hand.

"Once he starts making gay jokes, it means it's time to go. See ya around, Nick." He gave a subtle wave before heading for the door, dragging Keith behind him. Just before he got in the driver side of the car, he couldn't help but see the last he'd seen of Nick just minutes ago: looking small and forlorn as he walked away. Something about the Northerner's presence had made him feel at ease, but he shook it off. Focus on driving.


	2. Chapter 2

Loud knocking on the door dragged Ellis back to the waking world. He groaned, shoving his face into his pillow. "Go away, Keith."

"Dude, there was a crash on the highway."

"It happens a lot. Why are you waking me up because of it?"

"Because the description of one of them sounds a helluva lot like your buddy from last night."

Ellis was sure his heart skipped a beat. Not even bothering to get dressed, he grabbed his blanket and threw it around himself. By the time he opened the door to face his friend, he'd wiped the panic from his face. "Let me see."

Keith lead him over to his laptop, bringing up a news artice from early that morning. Scrolling through the information and looking at the given picture, there was no way that it wasn't Nick in that crash. The age, the picture, the first name, all the given descriptors matched up.

Ellis headed away, speaking to Keith without looking at him. "Gonna go check on him in the hospital. Should be back soon."

"You have class in fifteen minutes."

"Which means you'll be hanging around for a while. Find my professor's email addresses, claim I had a family emergency. I can get the notes from Kelly later."

"But- okay, fine. How many of them do I contact?"

"At most, I'll be missing the first three. If I'm not back by then, something went wrong and I'll have a legitimate excuse."

"Alright. Have a good time."

"Shut up."

Roughly a half hour later, Ellis found himself being led through the hospital halls to the room they had Nick in. God, he hated hospitals; everything was just a little too shiny and orderly and man, did they smell weird. He didn't really have much of a choice, though.

His escort stopped outside a room and gestured for him to go in. Ellis gave him a nod and a subtle thank you, walking into the room and trying to stay quiet. Last time he'd been in a hospital room he'd gotten yelled at for being too loud, which seemed kind of couterproductive. Wasn't anything he could do, though; he'd nearly been thrown out as things were.

Thankfully it wasn't one of those rooms where there were two people. It was made to be, but for the time being, Nick was the only one. He was in horrible condition, with ragged cuts everywhere and one arm strung up in a cast. There were a couple wounds spanning across his throat, and one across his forehead that forced one eye shut due to its position. Curled up the way he was, he looked smaller than he ever had.

Ellis headed over in dead silence, pulling up a chair and just waiting. For some more significant sign of life than Nick's breathing and the heart monitor next to him. For _something._ As time went on and nothing happened, he started losing hope. The wounds in his throat were deep, and, even though he was no medical genius, Ellis could tell that they were so to a dangerous degree. Carefully resting his elbows on the edge of the bed, he pressed his palms together and silently started to pray.

"You're not doing that religious shit again, are you?" Nick's voice was low, raspy, and barely audible, but it was there. His eyes were just barely open, but even so, they were fixed on Ellis with a certain determination shining in them.

"Maybe I am. Maybe you can't stop me. Were you driving drunk again?"

"Not me. The other person was. The one time I try and drive home sober and this happens." He sighed and tilted his head back. "How bad of a condition am I in?"

"Pretty bad, as far as I can tell. Those cuts in your throat are worrying me."

"Everything worries you."

"Better safe than sorry. How'd you get yourself into this mess again?"

Nick's eyes went distant as he recalled the scene. "I was just driving home and I didn't realize someone had hit me until glass from the hind windshield started flying into me. Someone walking on the side of the road started screaming when I hit the brakes, and I must've been unconscious by the time the emergency vehicles got there." He shook his head, teeth clenched. "Now I'm gonna be stuck here until they're convinced I'm okay. God damnit, I know how to look after myself."

"I'm pretty sure you don't know how to patch yourself up well enough to handle this."

"I'm pretty sure I do. You think nobody's ever jumped me before?"

Ellis fell silent, grabbing Nick's hand and resumed staring at the ceiling and gave a weak squeeze back. "Why is it always me, Ellis? Why do I seem to have the worst luck?"

"...I thought this was the first time something noteworthy had happened."

"No- okay, just forget it. I'll explain some other time. Shouldn't you be at school right now?"

Ellis glanced at the clock. "Yeah, actually, I should. I didn't leave myself an awful lot of time to spare, but hey, I've managed class without eating before." He got to his feet, putting the chair back where he'd found it. "By the way, sorry about Keith last night. He starts making jokes like that when he gets drunk. Which happens a lot."

"It's fine. Hey, what've you been spending your time doing since I moved away."

Ellis glanced over his shoulder. "Picked up some mechanics from my dad over the summers. During the school year, studied my ass off. Hey, I'll come back later if I can find time, 'kay?"

Nick grinned. "Just can't shake you, can I?"

"Nope. You're stuck with me. See ya."

Even after Ellis had walked off down the hall, Nick could hear him. "Damnit! Why did I have to be late for that class?!"


End file.
